Description
Book SynopsisA beautiful showcase of Johann Doppelmayr's magnificent Atlas Coelestis that deconstructs its intricately drawn plates and explores its influential ideas. Showcasing Johann Doppelmayr's magnificent 1742 map of the cosmos, Atlas Coelestis, this spectacular guide to the heavens is also a superb introduction to the fundamentals and history of astronomy. Charting constellations, planets, comets and moons, Doppelmayr's Atlas presents the ideas and discoveries of many famous and influential astronomers, including Copernicus, Riccioli, Kepler, Newton and Halley, in intricate colour plates that interweave annotated diagrams and tables with figurative drawings and ornamental features. Here, you can appreciate the beauty of those exquisite astronomical and cosmographical plates and comprehend the details, which are also presented in step-by-step deconstructed form. Astronomer Giles Sparrow elucidates the scientific ideas inherent in each plate, expertly decoding and analysing the comple
Trade Review'Published in 1742, this extraordinary work, illustrating everything that was known of the cosmos at the time, is given new life in Giles Sparrow’s edition. This is a book ultimately as accessible to the non-scientist as it is to the specialist … a story of increasing fascination' - The Spectator
'Giles Sparrow’s wonderful tribute to Doppelmayr’s important work is stunning, enormous and filled with the most amazing illustrations' - BBC Sky at Night
'Magnificent' - Nature
'Magnificent' - Nature
Table of ContentsForeword by Martin Rees
Introduction: Doppelmayr & His World
The Atlas Coelestis
Legacy: The Pathway to Modern Astronomy Milestones of Astronomy
Dramatis Personae
Glossary
Further Reading
Sources of Illustrations
Index
Acknowledgments
